This is my second post, if you haven’t read the first one, it’s below!

I had a great Easter weekend. Josh and I had alot of fun with the Passion Play he was in. I’m glad I went every nite, I think I really got alot out of it, spiritually speaking. I’m not sure I would’ve thought much about it if I’d just gone to see it once. I’m a critiquer, and so the first nite I think I mostly focused on what should have been done this way or that way. By the Friday nite, things went really smoothly and I was able to relax and take in the story. Josh’s family was there Saturday nite, and since most of them are lost, I spent alot of time praying that somehow this play would make an impact on them. I think it helped me to see the whole story in a new light. I tried to imagine that I didn’t know the crucifixion story that well (like perhaps his family didn’t) and attempted to take it in with new eyes. There were two things that jumped out at me. First of all, the whole Peter situation has already always made me feel a little better about myself, if you know what I mean. But I don’t know if it was the guy who played him, or the song he sang, or if it was just God giving me a glimpse into the reality of what happened with Peter, but I was able to clearly and tangibly see how much Jesus really does love us unconditionally even with all our unfaithfulness and wishy washy ways. Jesus loved and forgave Peter, one of his closest followers and best friends, for rejecting him and denying that he even knew him. That would have hurt me so badly that I would have never gotten over it, let alone forgive him. I can’t put into words how realistic this part of the story suddenly became to me, but you’ve probably all had similar (or even the same!) epiphanies so I hope you can just imagine what I mean.

The second thing was seeing “Jesus” all bloody and hanging there on the cross made the whole story just seem more real again. I’ve seen many passion plays in my time (some of them good, some of them bad) but sometimes, every once in a while, they just really somehow help me believe a little more. I guess maybe it’s because I’m a visual learner. I think I was more willing to be less critical this time because Josh was in it and a really good friend of ours was playing Jesus. I am far too critical most of the time and I think with passion plays I usually sit back and think things like “oh yeah, that did not look real at all” or “dang that guy can’t act” or whatever. I am thankful that I was in the position to have to sit back and watch 3 nites in a row and try not to be critical and also to be focused on what I hoped Josh’s family would get out of it. So anyway, I hope these things are also what his family gleaned from the play, and of course any other lost person who may have seen it. Not to mention other lifelong Christians like me that sometimes just take for granted what Jesus really did that day on the cross.

You probably won’t see to many religiously-charged posts by me so savor this one while you can. 😉